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What Michael Jackson’s Game Collection Says About Michael Jackson

Remember that ridiculous auction of all of Michael Jackson’s stuff? The one that got pulled a few weeks later when Jackson suddenly remembered he liked all his stuff? I do, because it had me scouring my couch for enough change to purchase his 87 arcade cabinets.

Now, a game collection says a lot about a person—for example, my game collection says that I am credit risk, and that my love for engrish alone probably qualifies me as functionally illiterate. But even with all those pre-approved Diner’s Club cards I could still never afford anything remotely approaching Michael Jackson’s ludicrous collection. So what do his games say about him?

Posted Apr 17 2009, 07:30 PM by Joe Keiser with | with no comments

Filed under: rule of rose, joe keiser, michael jackson, jaleco, collections, auctions, ponies and their many marks

This is the Reason Why Gamers Aren't Taken Seriously

Did this image excite you? Well you're the reason why gamers lack cultural legitimacy.

Just joking. There are many more reasons why gamers are looked down on, but our fetishization of collectables, skins, and assorted promotional hardware is one thing that sets us apart. Who cares about the color of a console?

Posted Feb 24 2009, 04:00 PM by Cole Stryker with | with 1 comment(s)

Filed under: xbox 360, cole stryker, culture, collections

Spring Cleaning: Dusting Off Your Old Games

I, like Cole, have been feeling the pinch of the economy lately. I’m not quite at the stage he’s at though: for example, I still live in New York, which means that naturally I meet our editor John regularly in that secret room on Wall Street where all New Yorkers adjust their monocles and laugh at the world. I also continue to own my most intricately designed brandy snifters, and I still swirl them daily.

But this lifestyle necessitates other cut backs, and one of them—the biggest one, actually—is my games spending. This is bad, because I am a consummate hoarder and cutting back in this way is hard. But it’s also good; because I’m a consummate hoarder and have tons of games I have not given nearly enough love to.

Posted Feb 24 2009, 02:00 PM by Joe Keiser with | with 2 comment(s)

Filed under: gamecube, ps2, wario games, joe keiser, new york city, virtual on, collections, wario world, zone of the enders

Spring Cleaning: Selling Your Old Games

Some of us hoard all of our games. Others sell their games off as soon as they beat them so they can afford new ones. Others save up their Gamecube games until they have a financial crisis and need some quick money. Like me.

I don't feel bad about selling these games because I know that Nintendo will almost definitely one day make them available to me via download for a paltry sum. Failing that, there's always emulation. Purists like our editor John would surely scoff at such madness, but then, he's sitting in his New York penthouse using Prima Guides for toilet paper. He wouldn't be able to relate.

Posted Feb 23 2009, 04:00 PM by Cole Stryker with | with 5 comment(s)

Filed under: gamecube, cole stryker, ebay, collections

about the blogger

John Constantine, our superhero, was raised by birds and then attended Penn State University. He is currently working on a novel about a fictional city that exists only in his mind. John has an astonishingly extensive knowledge of Scientology. Ultimately he would like to learn how to effectively use his brain. He continues to keep Wu-Tang's secret to himself.

Derrick Sanskrit is a self-professed geek in a variety of fields including typography, graphic design, comic books, music and cartoons. As a professional hipster graphic designer, his recent clients have included Nerve, Pitchfork and MoCCA, among others.

Amber Ahlborn - artist, writer, gamer and DigiPen survivor, she maintains a day job as a graphic artist. By night Amber moonlights as a professional Metroid Fanatic and keeps a metal suit in the closet just in case. Has lived in the state of Washington and insists that it really doesn't rain as much as everyone says it does.

Nadia Oxford is a housekeeping robot who was refurbished into a warrior when the world's need for justice was great. Now that the galaxy is at peace (give or take a conflict here or there), she works as a freelance writer for various sites and magazines. Based in Toronto, Nadia prizes the certificate from the Ministry of Health declaring her tick and rabies-free.

Bob Mackey is a grad student, writer, and cyborg, who uses the powerful girl-repelling nanomachines mad science grafted onto his body to allocate time towards interests of the nerd persuasion. He believes that complaining about things on the Internet is akin to the fine art of wine tasting, but with more spitting into buckets.

Joe Keiser has a programming degree from Johns Hopkins University, a tiny apartment in Brooklyn, and a fake toy guitar built in the hollowed-out shell of a real guitar. He writes about games and technology for a variety of outlets. One day he will stop doing this. The day after that, police will find his body under a collapsed pile of (formerly neatly alphabetized) collector's edition tchotchkes.

Cole Stryker is an American freelance writer living in York, England, where he resides with his archeologist wife. He writes for a travel company by day and argues about pop culture on the internet by night. Find him writing regularly here and here.

Peter Smith is like the lead character of Irwin Shaw's The 80-Yard Run, except less athletic. He considers himself very lucky to have this job. But it's a little premature to take "jack-off of all trades" off his resume. Besides writing, travelling, and painting houses, Pete plays guitar in a rock trio called The Aye-Ayes. He calls them a 'power pop' band, but they generally sound more like Motorhead on a drinking binge.